King Arthur’s Wassail

The hall is lit, the fire is bright,
The wassail-bowl is brimming high,
Our King sits here in kingly might,
And greets us all with a joyful eye.

About Robert Stephen Hawker

Robert Stephen Hawker (1803–1875) was a British Anglican priest, poet, antiquarian and reputed eccentric, known to his parishioners as Parson Hawker. He is best known as the writer of "The Song of the Western Men" with its chorus line of "And shall Trelawny die? / Here's twenty thousand Cornish men / will know the reason why!", which he published anonymously in 1825. His name became known after Charles Dickens acknowledged his authorship of "The Song of the Western Men" in the serial magazine Household Words.

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